On the 40th anniversary of the United Reformed Church’s renewal group, Brian Harley reflects on the contribution of evangelical

When I was a boy in the 1960s, the charismatic renewal was bringing fresh life to many parts of the UK church. Presbyterians and Congregationalists were among those touched by this move of the Spirit, and, when the United Reformed Church was formed in 1972, they found one another and explored how to work together for the good of this new movement.

As a result, the group for evangelism and renewal within the United Reformed Church (GEAR) was formed in February 1974, to keep Holy Spirit renewal and evangelism in focus.

Malcolm Hanson, who chaired the GEAR committee for the first 16 years, writes: “We began to feel that whatever contribution we might make should be a positive one, rather than carping on about the things we disagreed with… We felt the need to raise the level of expectancy and awareness of the Holy Spirit engaging with us in meetings, in worship, in prayer, in service, changing our lives and making an impact on the world.”…

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This article was published in the February 2014 edition of Reform.

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